Right to Disconnect: Complexities of Legalization (In the Context of International Regulatory Experience)

Abstract

Objective: Issues of legalization of new digital rights are the subject of current discussions. To date, the need to consolidate the human rights, inextricably linked to the process of digitalization of society, is recognized in many international agendas. The right to disconnect is one of these rights, and the inclusion of it in the Loi Travail was the first step towards incorporating new digital human rights into national law. Despite the fact that the regulation of the right to disconnect is being discussed at the international level, countries are very cautious about this category in their national labor laws. Purpose: to identify the problematic aspects of the legalization of the right to disconnect in labor relations through the prism of the analysis of the legislative experience of states of various legal jurisdictions. Theoretical framework: The study of the regulatory landscape of foreign states in relation to the right to disconnect contributes to the consolidation of expertise about approaches to the legal protection of employees. Based on the above, when analyzing the literature, the list of sources under study included research papers, articles, and reviews related to the legalization of the right to disconnect in labor relations based on labor legislation at the national level, as well as at the level of collective agreements and corporate culture. Methods: The research methodology is based on the main method of legal science – legal hermeneutics. When reviewing the research literature on the topic and including sources in the scope of the study, we were guided by the criteria of a systematic literature review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses method. The study also used the clustering method to determine the jurisdictions being studied. Result & Conclusion: This knowledge will help to identify the main difficulties of direct legalization, the reasons for the implicit recognition of the right to disconnect and will help to identify effective methods of law-making in the future. As a result of an inductive analysis of specific examples of the legal regulation of the right to disconnect in the national laws of various jurisdictions, we have identified the main obstacles to legal consolidation and strategies for the legalization of the right to disconnect. Implications of research: The research identifies the main factors influencing the legalisation of the right to disconnect at the legislative level. It also categorises the strategies adopted by countries in different jurisdictions to regulate the right to disconnect in legal relations. Originality/value: Increased knowledge of work-life balance through the legal entrenchment of the right to disconnect in the employment relationship. The findings of the study can serve as a basis for reorienting not only the legal policies of states in the area of the right to time off, but also the strategies of companies to improve the situation of workers. Funding: This study was supported by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and High education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (grant no. fund this research AP19676064).